|
Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Feb 7, 2012 13:17:45 GMT -5
Okay, I'll start a thread for crying out loud!!!! ___________________________________________________ www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/business/smallbusiness/before-ice-cream-shop-can-open-citys-slow-churn.html?_r=2Before Ice Cream Shop Can Open, City’s Slow ChurnBy SCOTT JAMES Published: February 3, 2012 San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee’s office announced last week a $1.5 million fund to help small businesses, calling the sector the “Backbone of SF Economy.” If true, then the saga of a new ice cream shop seems to indicate that the city needs a good chiropractor. The Ice Cream Bar opened Jan. 21 in the Cole Valley neighborhood — an homage to the classic parlors of the 1930s, complete with vintage soda fountain and lunch counter seating. It has become an immediate sensation, packed with both families and the foodie crowd, savoring upscale house-made ice creams and exotic sodas (flavorings include pink peppercorn and tobacco). The shop also employs 14 full- and part-time workers. But getting it opened wasn’t easy. “Many times it almost didn’t happen,” said Juliet Pries, the owner, with a cheerful laugh. Ms. Pries said it took two years to open the restaurant, due largely to the city’s morass of permits, procedures and approvals required to start a small business. While waiting for permission to operate, she still had to pay rent and other costs, going deeper into debt each passing month without knowing for sure if she would ever be allowed to open. “It’s just a huge risk,” she said, noting that the financing came from family and friends, not a bank. “At several points you wonder if you should just walk away and take the loss.” Ms. Pries said she had to endure months of runaround and pay a lawyer to determine whether her location (a former grocery, vacant for years) was eligible to become a restaurant. There were permit fees of $20,000; a demand that she create a detailed map of all existing area businesses (the city didn’t have one); and an $11,000 charge just to turn on the water. The ice cream shop’s travails are at odds with the frequent promises made by the mayor and many supervisors that small businesses and job creation are top priorities. The matter has also alarmed some business leaders, who point out that few small ventures could survive such long delays. “Someone of lesser fortitude would have left three months into it,” Ted Loewenberg, president of the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association, said of Ms. Pries. “Through these hard times we’ve heard all the rhetoric about streamlining the process, about one-stop shopping. It hasn’t happened.” Article is a bit more lengthy, click link for full text.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 19, 2024 8:42:27 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2012 13:20:31 GMT -5
2 Threads and you choose ice cream...
Hard hitting, SF. Hard hitting.
|
|
workpublic
Junior Associate
Catch and release please
Joined: Dec 30, 2010 14:01:48 GMT -5
Posts: 5,551
Favorite Drink: Heineken
|
Post by workpublic on Feb 7, 2012 13:22:40 GMT -5
did they get their sprinkles license yet? or do I is it still B.Y.O.S. ;-)
did they complete the required nut crushing certificate program? how are the cherry permits coming. i think they'll have to wait til next year for whip cream safety and proper dispensing.
|
|
|
Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Feb 7, 2012 13:23:24 GMT -5
2 Threads and you choose ice cream... Hard hitting, SF. Hard hitting. Hey watch it...the thread is a thinly disguised attempt at a liberal bashing topic.
|
|
|
Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Feb 7, 2012 13:24:18 GMT -5
did they get their sprinkles license yet? or do I is it still B.Y.O.S. ;-) Did you read the entire article? Just kidding...
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 19, 2024 8:42:27 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2012 13:34:09 GMT -5
It's not just SF. I could use up pages telling you what my kids had to go through to get the buildings built and their businesses up and running. Thousands of dollars and tons of paper work, just to erect a road sign, so you can imagine what the rest of the construction was like. And costly? OMG!!! Unbelievable! Permits, engineered drawings, fees, parking and handicap requirements to meet and the months of delays. It was a nightmare. Watching all this happen over 2 years is one of the reasons I have been such an advocate of getting the GD government out of the businesses. Anyone today would have to be a fool to build and start a business, at least in my county. It is not kind to call your children fools.
|
|
floridayankee
Junior Associate
If You Don't Stand Behind Our Troops, Feel Free to Stand in Front of Them.
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 14:56:05 GMT -5
Posts: 7,461
|
Post by floridayankee on Feb 7, 2012 14:07:02 GMT -5
If true, then the saga of a new ice cream shop seems to indicate that the city needs a good chiropractor. At least they can still sell their ice cream to food stamp recipients out there in CA.
|
|
workpublic
Junior Associate
Catch and release please
Joined: Dec 30, 2010 14:01:48 GMT -5
Posts: 5,551
Favorite Drink: Heineken
|
Post by workpublic on Feb 7, 2012 14:14:33 GMT -5
ot
hey SF,
did you see the parade today?
|
|
|
Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Feb 7, 2012 14:23:06 GMT -5
A small business entrepreneur learns about restaurant regulations in San Francisco. This video is a fictional but accurate portrayal of the current restaurant controls in the City's Planning Code. Some minor exaggerations have been added for effect. The City is currently considering proposals to simplify and improve the City's restaurant controls. The Planning Commission recently recommended changes to address the issue. You can view the Planning Commission's recommendation at www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=2925. The Board of Supervisors may consider changes as early as December 2011.
|
|
|
Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Feb 7, 2012 14:24:42 GMT -5
ot hey SF, did you see the parade today? I am in midtown now. I did not see it. In 2008 I was working just up the street.
|
|